Meet Me Under A Full Moon

[Dale Hunt]

OOC

According to the weather function the moon is 94% full, which I think is counted as a full moon...right @Kazakin ?

Dale sat in a bench in Capitol Park, waiting for Nieves to arrive. As usual, he was dressed in a pair of ragged jeans and his Crusaders' vest, not bothering to wear a shirt underneath. After all, the Rahu took pride on the scars on his arms and chest, so he didn't really bother with hiding them. Luna was shining brightly upon him this evening, and he could feel her blessings to their full extent. With the Warrior's Moon up in the night sky, he waited patiently for the other Rahu to make her presence known. A few weeks back she had petitioned the Blood Talons for a chance to join them, so Dale wanted to check on her progress.

[Nieves Werra]

As glad as Nieves that the Blood Talons hadn't forgotten about her, Nieves had jack shit to show for herself. Even worse, she bore the curse of a Lune for dishonor. It couldn't have been worse timing. But everything had been going wrong with this so it came as no surprise to her. She thought if anything she could get some good advice from Dale about it, but more likely it'd just prove how she wasn't worth his time.

Nieves walked through the expanse of Capitol Park. It was still pretty at midnight but the sight didn't comfort her. Her injuries from the battle with Raging Collision were hid under a light brown jacket over a orange-yellow tank top and ragged jeans. With the moonlight and Dale's familiar scent she found him easy enough.

"Hey, Dale. Good to see ya," she says with her Mexican accent. It wasn't as prominent these days as she'd been mostly hanging around with non-Hispanics.

[Dale Hunt]

Dale's nostrils flared up slightly as the night winds carried Nieves' scent to him. As she approached, he turned to look at her and gave her a quick nod. "Nieves, glad to see you could make it," he says to the smaller Rahu, his voice remaining neutral. He gestured for her to take a seat next to him. "Beautiful night, huh?" His predatory eyes glanced up at the moon, entranced by Luna in her full glory. After observing the moon for a moment, Dale turned his attention back to Nieves.

"So I asked you to come meet me here because I wanted to talk to you," he said to the prospective Talon. "Wanted to check how you were doing. Any progress in your quest for Glory?" His eyes met hers, as he awaited for her response.

[Nieves Werra]

Nieves sat, her gaze following his to the light of the moon. It was beautiful, and terrible. Mother's Lunes...they do not look well upon me. At least they don't ignore me like my birth mother. Can I only get attention by causing trouble?

"Yeah, beautiful," she says wistfully. When he asks the question she averts her eyes, clearly ashamed. She stands up again, her back to him, and her hands ball into fists as they clutch at the sleeves of her jacket. "No, Dale. I haven't. In fact, it's worse than before." There is frustration in her voice, a struggle to stay calm as she put her thoughts into words.

"The Sworn...well, The Remnants, I should say, cause only Jeremiah was really part of the Sworn...we were in the Shadow. And we..." she paused, trying to describe it delicately. Turning around to face Dale she continued, lowering her voice, "...I earned the displeasure of one of the Elunim. And so it's a bit of a set back for me." She pauses again and walked to a trash receptacle cage beside the bench. Giving it a swift kick it made the sound of a thunk that echoed off the nearby trees.

"I just... I'm trying, ya know. And nothing's going right. Guy called me a fucking thug. I don't mean to be, but I can't even hunt down a Magath without pissing off every other city spirit," she hisses through a strained whisper, not at Dale, of course, but at herself. She probably shouldn't have said the names Magath and spirits but the park was deserted enough where it wouldn't be heard.

She huffs, exasperated, but calmer, "Sorry. I just wanted to have more to show for myself by now."

[Dale Hunt]

Dale listened to the younger Rahu's words, his expression remaining neutral as she explained her situation. He couldn't help but smirk just a bit at her frustration, because it reminded him of a younger version of himself. "It seems the Lunes found your actions dishonorable," he said to her, no actual criticism in his voice. "Tell me, why do you think this happened?" The question wasn't intended to piss her off, even though Dale knew that the chance of that happening was still there. However, he wanted Nieves to reflect on her own actions a bit, perhaps gain an understanding of why she had earned herself this punishment from one of the Elunim.

While the Rahu awaited for her answer, an amusing thought crossed his mind. And while it was slightly funny to him, it also made him realize that for whatever reason he couldn't quite understand, he felt the urge to look out for the younger one. Maybe he just wanted to pay it forward, do so to honor his previous pack. They had given him a shot, taught him much of what he knew today. So now, he would do what he'd have to do in order to teach Nieves the same lessons. If she wanted to be Suthar Anzuth, she needed to fully understand what that entailed. But, before she could even do that, she would need to learn from her mistakes and learn to move past those failures and keep her chin up.

This is starting to remind me of Star Wars...fuck that! I'm way cooler than Obi Wan...better looking too!

[Nieves Werra]

She let out another huff that was a sort of laugh at his statement. "Ha, sure as shit," she says in an expressive agreement. "I kinda wish the guy just gave it to me straight. He just, ya know, popped in and told me I was too hot-heeded and bam, all my training and confidence are gone till I make some sorta repa...repara...till I make it right, ya know?"

She sat back down on the bench hard and then groaned. She hadn't really answered Dale's question though so she went on, lowering her voice again for discretion. "So it's like this, we're in the Shadow and I see a car. I think, okay it's a car, only it's not a car. Stupid as shit I walk right up to it. Turns out its not so friendly and I must've done something to piss it off. Probably didn't like how I was looking at it. It hits me, BAM!" she punches her fist into her palm to demonstrate before lowering her voice again. "Sends me flying across the ground, I don't even feel it yet, my body's in shock. I manage to get to my feet, I don't know how and, bam, the damn thing does it again. After that I don't even know. I wake up while the rest of my pack is trying to drag me away. I find out later this car is a Greater Gaffling. Apparently pissing one off puts me in the shitter."

Nieves leans her forehead against her open palm, rubbing it as if she had a headache. There had to be more than that. "There's...there's probably some other shit too. Remember when I told you how I wanted to join the BT because I didn't want to lose control? I wanted a warrior code to stay focused? Well there's that too, though I'm not sure how that figures in. They've probably been watching me for a while now. And now trying for Glory just seems farther away..."

[Dale Hunt]

Dale remained seated as Nieves began her tale, listening attentively to what she was saying. He didn't interrupt her once, waiting to hear all the details about what had happened before expressing his own opinion on the matter. Once the younger Rahu was done telling her tale, he gave her a slight nod before speaking up. "Sih Sehe Mak; Mak Ne Sih," he said to her with some conviction in his voice. "It is part of the Oath we all swear as the sons and daughters of Mother Luna. Sure, we usually think of it in terms of packs and Uratha, but there is no reason why one should treat a spirit of higher rank in a dishonorable manner."

He paused for a moment, allowing for his words to sink in. "You know, I don't really know much about spirits to begin with," he admitted to Nieves, giving her a little shrug. "But them Bone Shadows have this saying about paying each spirit in kind or something. I think you may be able to borrow a page from their book and attempt to offer something to this spirit you offended." Dale paused once again before adding, "seems like making amends will go a long way for you in this case. Talk to an Ithaeur, or an Elodoth, they know how to handle spirits with words rather than fists."

As far as her words regarding the warrior's code and her pursuit of Glory, the Rahu nodded once more. "You see, part of this code that you seek lies within Honor itself," he said to the Mexican Uratha. "Glory is a great thing, but it is empty and meaningless if it isn't accompanied by Honor."

[Nieves Werra]

Huh, that was actually pretty good advice, thought Nieves, taking her turn to listen to Dale's words. Her elbows rested on her knees as she sat, nodding, before letting her head and shoulders droop low as she considered. "Honor and Glory, eh?" she said to the ground beneath the bench and then sat up again. "Yeah, I get that. I'm not sure what I should have done instead, but I'll ask my Alpha about it. We haven't really talked about all that since it happened. Kinda just been licking our wounds."

She paused, something else brewing in her mind. Finally meeting Dale's eyes she says, "Hey Dale? Were you really just checking up on me just for the Talon business? Cause I appreciate your sticking your neck out for me. I hope no one's giving you shit for it."

[Dale Hunt]

Dale nodded at the younger Uratha's words. "That sounds like a good idea to me," he said to her in response. "Licking your wounds is all good and well, but your Alpha should be addressing these issues as well. He's the leader of the pack for a reason, right?" He gave her a little shrug as he said those last words, wondering what the heck this so called Alpha of the Sworn was doing.

He should be talking to his pack about this sort of thing...

The Rahu let out a soft chuckle. "I doubt anyone's gonna give me much shit about anything," he said to Nieves, flashing her a quick grin. "But yeah, I wanted to see if you had made any progress...and just to see how you were doing, ya know?"

[Nieves Werra]

Nieves didn't say anything to this at first. It wasn't her Alpha's fault that she was a loser. But at the same time she wished he did more to look out for her. Tell her what was what, take charge. Nieves had always assumed he was more experienced and smarter than her, she just wasn't used to asking others for help or asking what might be a stupid question.

"Yeah, okay," she says as the silence began to get awkward. "And thanks. Uh, so how are you doing?"